February 2, 200817 yr I wonder how many people that convention is expected to bring to Cleveland? Its small. 800 to 1,000, IIRC.
June 10, 200817 yr The writer got a little liberal. Doubleetree hotels are in now way "boutique" or "luxury". Its a standard hotel property that Cleveland needs in it's hotel portfolio. It's on par with the Renaissance, Marriott, Hyatt or Wyndham. I'm glad to see we're moving away from the bottom feeder type properties. Overhaul will convert downtown Holiday Inn into DoubleTree Posted by rroguski June 09, 2008 18:08PM As new boutique and luxury hotel brands consider downtown, an old property is getting a $15 million facelift -- and a more upscale name. Renovations are under way to transform the Holiday Inn Select hotel into a DoubleTree. Five floors of rooms -- out of 15 total -- have been stripped and remade, with new furniture, fixtures, bathrooms, air-conditioning and flat-panel televisions. Three more floors are under construction, and the rest could be finished by Labor Day. "It's a total gut-and-go kind of deal," said Leonard Clifton, the hotel's general manager. The Hotel Group, a major owner and operator based in Edmonds, Wash., bought the property a year ago with plans to overhaul it. Since then, the company decided to recreate the 180-room property as a higher-end DoubleTree, a Hilton Family brand that also has a site in Independence... http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/06/overhaul_will_convert_downtown.html
June 10, 200817 yr I too can't believe they're making such a big deal about a Doubletree property coming in. Big whoop. It's not like we're getting a W or something.
June 10, 200817 yr From a marketing & promotions stand point (the doubletree brand, the city and Hilton Inc) it's important to get the word out because this brand does give you a good value and Cleveland proper, needs more big name reliable brands. Besides, Cleveland is a Marriott town and Starwood and Hilton are trying to break their market share. When the new convention center is announced I fully expect a Westin, Sheraton and Hilton to be announced.
June 10, 200817 yr "The downtown market doesn't look for a Holiday Inn flag," Clifton said. Uh... what does this mean?
June 10, 200817 yr I wouldn't read too much into it. The only person making a big deal out of it is the hotel general manager (as he should, it's his job). We've known this was happening for months and this is the first peep from anyone about it. That being said, I still think this is a great upgrade as this holiday inn was abhorent...
June 10, 200817 yr What a cookie-cutter design that building is. Who designs a building with a window-less brick wall facing the lake??
June 10, 200817 yr "The downtown market doesn't look for a Holiday Inn flag," Clifton said. Uh... what does this mean? Young, hipsters want a hotel that's an experience. They want chic, happening, hip. Places that you can socialize, good lobby lounges and in hip area's where they are central to bars, restaurants, and unique things you won't find elsewhere in the region. 30 and 40 something like these types of hotels because they can afford them. Hotel brands that meet that requirement. Starwood: W hotels & Westin's and some luxury collection properties Klimpton: Hotel Palomar and Helix hotels offer that Hyatt: Park Hyatt's Loews: Loews Hotels Those hotel groups also have brands that compete in the luxury market place as well. Marriott: JW Marriott's and select Marriott Marquis Hilton: Conrad Starwood: St. Regis & Luxury Collection Inter-Continental/Priority Club: Inter-Continental (Cleveland has two) Morgan's Hotel Group: Mondrian Hotels Loews: Loews Hotels And there are the true luxury brands. Ritz' Carlton's (Cleveland has one of the best) But we don't have the following properties Swissotel Omni Peninsula Fairmount Four Seasons The Swissotel, Omni, Peninsula, Fairmount and Four Season don't have to be large hotels, maybe 150-250 room hotels. Adding any of the hotels I mention make it easier for the city to book conventions and lure leisure travelers. Convention attendees have a wide array of brands to chose from since many company's have corporate contracts and their staff can stay at company or convention rates. Leisure travelers who vacation, want what they don't have at home so going to a W Hotel, Loews, Park Hyatt, Peninsula or whatever brand offers them a relaxing retreat. Thats a win-win for both customer, brand and the city. In addition, most of those brands are located in the city center, therefore contributing to the local econmies bottom line. Even if you have no desire to stay at and upscale or luxury brand having one in your city contributes to its status.
June 10, 200817 yr I'm loving the news on Indigo. Just another point I am incorporating into my defense of the city speech I give to all the whining wieners that I run into from the burbs when they complain about how dead and boring Cleveland is compared to other cities.
June 10, 200817 yr "The downtown market doesn't look for a Holiday Inn flag," Clifton said. Uh... what does this mean? And there are the true luxury brands. Ritz' Carlton's (Cleveland has one of the best) I have to disagree there. As a professional meeting planner and someone who has visted a LOT of hotels, including a number of other Ritz properties, ours is really lacking, particularly in service and consistency.
June 10, 200817 yr "The downtown market doesn't look for a Holiday Inn flag," Clifton said. Uh... what does this mean? And there are the true luxury brands. Ritz' Carlton's (Cleveland has one of the best) I have to disagree there. As a professional meeting planner and someone who has visted a LOT of hotels, including a number of other Ritz properties, ours is really lacking, particularly in service and consistency. Well there goes our dinner date! I over see meeting planning and I think it's one of the best and RC's own internal folks as well as several meeting & convention services rated it as one of the chains best.
June 10, 200817 yr "The downtown market doesn't look for a Holiday Inn flag," Clifton said. Uh... what does this mean? And there are the true luxury brands. Ritz' Carlton's (Cleveland has one of the best) I have to disagree there. As a professional meeting planner and someone who has visted a LOT of hotels, including a number of other Ritz properties, ours is really lacking, particularly in service and consistency. Well there goes our dinner date! I over see meeting planning and I think it's one of the best and RC's own internal folks as well as several meeting & convention services rated it as one of the chains best. LOL. Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree once again. I am friends with a former executive in the Ritz family and I can tell you I'm not the only one that doesn't think that highly of our property. I encouraged an out of town meeting planner friend to have an event there last year and she was very disappointed. The last business lunch/presentation I went to there was terrible. I know it's very hard to obtain and retain good staff, particularly in our market, but this is hardly one of their flagship properties in my opinion.
June 11, 200817 yr Also have to agree to disagree. Yes, I have heard the same thing about the Ritz in Cleveland (I will try to find where I read that it was considered to be in the bottom tier of the Ritz Carlton's), and for that reason one of the last to get updated, which is supposed to be happening soon if not already. I often stay here when I come back to Cleveland, since I get a government rate, which makes it the same price as the Holiday Inn, plus I can bring my dog, but otherwise its not that special..... Even on Even on Trip Advisor, people that typically stay at Ritz' indicate Clevelands isnt great (and of course the people that dont typically stay at one are more favorable). Sorry MTS, but it is definately not considered one of the chains best, not even close.
June 11, 200817 yr But But... But it's in Cleveland, it can't be one of the best, no way! The one in new york is the best, its better than any other one, so there!! The one in los angeles is second best. The one in chicago is third best because its in chicago. The one in Cleveland in the worst one. OMG!! Someone thinks Cleveland has a good one, hahaha, roflmfao... NO WAY! All the ones are better than the Cleveland one!! The Cleveland one is like a travel lodge in newark or something... The one in new york is eight diamond, the one in Cleveland is two coal! :roll:
June 11, 200817 yr On a more serious note, This quote is an insult to leisure travelers: "Leisure travelers who vacation, want what they don't have at home so going to a W Hotel, Loews, Park Hyatt, Peninsula or whatever brand offers them a relaxing retreat." I have been to many hotels & resorts across the country & beyond and I've never found a a place yet that can compare to what I have at home. That is marketing hype or I am not a leisure traveler.
June 11, 200817 yr Didnt understand your first post time, but it has nothing to do with it being in Cleveland, if it did I would say it was the best (since I do this with everything else Cleveland), but instead it had to do with MTS stating that it is one of the best in the chain, when clearly isnt (wish it was though) But hey, at least we have one.
June 11, 200817 yr Well, according to the Travel and Leisure: 2006 Worlds Best Business Hotels list, only 5 US Ritz-Carltons made the list, and Cleveland's was on there.
June 11, 200817 yr Actually, according to the latest (2007) Travel+Leisure magazine ranking of the top 500 hotels in the world, 24 of the 35 Ritz-Carltons located in the US were listed. And of those, Cleveland's had the second-to-worst score (81.55). But then again, it is still apparently one of the top 500 hotels in the world. I even remember reading a few years back another T+L ranking that had it at no. 53 in the US. But as we know here in Cleveland, such national rankings are worth about as much as.... :? And as someone else mentioned, if you read the reviews on TripAdvisor.com, most of the more seasoned travelers seem to be slightly disappointed in the property. While I've never stayed at the Cleveland location, I have been to it for a few functions and while nice, I can see how its about due for that updating, especially compared to some of the newer R-C's that I've stayed at. Remember, its about demanding the best for Cleveland, and not settling for an inferior product because some may perceive us as a second-tier city. There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism.
June 11, 200817 yr Sorry, here's the link to the Travel+Leisure rankings: http://www.travelandleisure.com/tl500/2007/region/us
June 11, 200817 yr Also have to agree to disagree. Yes, I have heard the same thing about the Ritz in Cleveland (I will try to find where I read that it was considered to be in the bottom tier of the Ritz Carlton's), and for that reason one of the last to get updated, which is supposed to be happening soon if not already. Do you (or anyone else) have anymore information about this?
June 11, 200817 yr Sorry, here's the link to the Travel+Leisure rankings: http://www.travelandleisure.com/tl500/2007/region/us Thanks for the updated list. Through your link, I found the T+L 2008 list, on which no Ohio hotels were included (the Cleveland Ritz was the only Ohio hotel on the 2007 list). I was referring to the Best Business Hotels List, which included far less Ritz-Carlton hotels. I couldn't find a 2007 or 2008 list in this category, however.
June 11, 200817 yr Yea, I saw that you were referring to the business hotel list after I read your post the second time. Sorry. But it's interesting and too bad that our Ritz fell of the list completely for 2008, and I think the comments on Trip Advisor probably do a pretty good job at illuminating why this happened. Some of it is pretty bush-league stuff. Hopefully, with the arrival of the 1, and to a lesser extent the other recent hotel developments mentioned (Indigo, Doubletree, redo of the Marriott), our Ritz will be forced to indisputably become become one of the chain's best.
June 11, 200817 yr Sorry, here's the link to the Travel+Leisure rankings: http://www.travelandleisure.com/tl500/2007/region/us (work hat on) Sorry, but Travel + Leisure is not a source to measure rankings as reporters, editors, me :-P and select American Express members rate the properties. (work hat off) Michelin and/or Mobil are considered the rating standard.
June 11, 200817 yr Actually, according to the latest (2007) Travel+Leisure magazine ranking of the top 500 hotels in the world, 24 of the 35 Ritz-Carltons located in the US were listed. And of those, Cleveland's had the second-to-worst score (81.55). But then again, it is still apparently one of the top 500 hotels in the world. I even remember reading a few years back another T+L ranking that had it at no. 53 in the US. But as we know here in Cleveland, such national rankings are worth about as much as.... :? And as someone else mentioned, if you read the reviews on TripAdvisor.com, most of the more seasoned travelers seem to be slightly disappointed in the property. While I've never stayed at the Cleveland location, I have been to it for a few functions and while nice, I can see how its about due for that updating, especially compared to some of the newer R-C's that I've stayed at. Remember, its about demanding the best for Cleveland, and not settling for an inferior product because some may perceive us as a second-tier city. There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism. Nothing wrong with constructive critisim, but the Cleveland property was the "brand standard" when it opened as its one of the "newer" properties in the US portfolio. In late 2006/early 2007 RC rolled out a new standard and the Miami Beach and (IIRC) the Washington, DC properties were the test markets. As mentioned the Cleveland property is due for an update.
June 11, 200817 yr I've never been to the Cleveland Ritz but have some unflattering things about it from other people
June 11, 200817 yr I've stayed a couple times... It's pretty average. The rooms were nice, but nothing special. The common areas were much more "ritzish". EDIT: It is definitely not a five star hotel... which is what I would imagine a ritz should be.
June 11, 200817 yr I've never stayed at the Ritz in Cleveland. However I have known people who have stayed there and have returned specifically because they liked the service. The majority of visiting NBA teams stay there (as do most of the national sports media when in town) on a regular basis so I have to think its not that bad - there are alternatives if it wasn't up to par. I've "used" the Ritz before coming back from the airport on the RTA when I didn't feel like walking from TC home (raining, what not) and wanted to grab a taxi and was treated well (I mean, I realize that's a smaller thing, but in hotels like these the diffentiation is often in the details). I guess this is the first I've heard of any complaints about the hotel. I agree the interior needs to be updated, but if that is the complaint, well, that doesn't really affect their core competency so I'm a bit more tolerant of that.
June 11, 200817 yr On another hotel note... The Wyndham at Playhouse square is completely remodeling their hotel. My friends from out of town once stayed there and said the only thing that let them know they were at the wyndham was the name on the outside. They actually said their room might have well of been at a holiday inn. I've seen some of the finished new rooms though and they are really quite nice. Overall I think that place was just a little beat. Every 15 years or so you're going to have update it. I think that was the problem with the ritz as well... just a little "beat" nothing an update won't fix.
June 11, 200817 yr I've never once heard anyone complain about the Wyndham. although I don't like their properties, ours is a very nice property.
June 11, 200817 yr I've been in and seen it (recently), it's the hotel we are booking for our wedding out of towners. It's not that it's not a nice property it's just that after 15 years, carpet looks like sh*t, wallcovering needs replaced, furniture looks beat up, etc. The Wyndham was definitely at the end of it's lifecycle. Even the common areas are a little beat up. I think the ritz suffers from this same thing. It's not that they aren't nice, they just need remodeled. The Wyndham is supposed to be complete on renovations by October... and the completed rooms they showed me were outstanding.
June 11, 200817 yr I've been in and seen it (recently), it's the hotel we are booking for our wedding out of towners. It's not that it's not a nice property it's just that after 15 years, carpet looks like sh*t, wallcovering needs replaced, furniture looks beat up, etc. The Wyndham was definitely at the end of it's lifecycle. Even the common areas are a little beat up. I think the ritz suffers from this same thing. It's not that they aren't nice, they just need remodeled. The Wyndham is supposed to be complete on renovations by October... and the completed rooms they showed me were outstanding. Well, I hope they give my wedding guests the completed rooms. :) We couldn't beat the location, being right across the street from the reception. As far as sheer beauty, the Renaissance lobby will always top them all.
June 11, 200817 yr However old it is, it's got the same issues as Wyndham... just needs a little love. The Ritz room I was in had pretty beat carpet, worn out wallcovering, the upholstery on the furnture was worn out, wood knicked up, etc. like I said though, the common areas there were definitely still quite ritzish, including the spa, etc. I think once it gets remodeled it'll ditch the negative comments.
June 11, 200817 yr The Renaissance lobby is the best but I think the rooms are awful, and the elevator takes FOREVER.
June 11, 200817 yr The Renaissance lobby is the best but I think the rooms are awful, and the elevator takes FOREVER. Thats due to the age of the property. Rooms were not as large then. Same thing at the drake in Chicago.
June 11, 200817 yr The Renaissance lobby is the best but I think the rooms are awful, and the elevator takes FOREVER. Thats due to the age of the property. Rooms were not as large then. Same thing at the drake in Chicago. My complaint is not about size, it's about decor and condition of the items in the room.
June 11, 200817 yr The Renaissance lobby is the best but I think the rooms are awful, and the elevator takes FOREVER. Thats due to the age of the property. Rooms were not as large then. Same thing at the drake in Chicago. My complaint is not about size, it's about decor and condition of the items in the room. I've heard the that ventilation, A/C system whatever in the Renaissance is horrid. Go to the White Candle Barn Store in Tower City and ask them how many candle they sell to people staying at the Renaissance.
June 11, 200817 yr The Renaissance lobby is the best but I think the rooms are awful, and the elevator takes FOREVER. Thats due to the age of the property. Rooms were not as large then. Same thing at the drake in Chicago. The Renaissance (built in 1918 as the Hotel Cleveland) originally had something like 1,000+ rooms. At some point, a remodel involved combining rooms to reduce the number to the 440 rooms/50 suites it has now. So you can only imagine how ridiculously small the rooms USED to be. Best hotel bar? I'm rather fond of 1890 at the Arcade/Hyatt, particularly sitting at the high-tops along the windows facing Superior. clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
June 11, 200817 yr Harvey's Martini Bar - Hilton Garden Inn Renaissance lobby bar Hyatt Arcade Wyndham lobby bar
June 11, 200817 yr Where is that? Hyatt Arcade. Best hotel bar? I'm rather fond of 1890 at the Arcade/Hyatt, particularly sitting at the high-tops along the windows facing Superior. I sat right there in those chairs looking out the window polishing off a bottle of wine.
June 11, 200817 yr MY vote is the lobby court at the Renaissance. If you sit at the bar, be sure to sit on the far side from the entrance. That side is elevated, so you can belly up in these luxuriously large chairs, rather than bar stools.
June 26, 200816 yr Some neat news from mlb.com: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080623&content_id=2990453&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Cleveland to host SABR convention Diverse interests of baseball fans brought together during event By Justice B. Hill / MLB.com Members attending the SABR convention will catch the Indians-Reds game at Progressive Field on Friday night. (Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) CLEVELAND -- John Zajc can't quite exhale yet. Maybe in a day or two though, because at that point all Zajc's work on the baseball convention he's helped bring to Cleveland will be behind him. The convention comes here without too much residual damage to Zajc, at least none of it shows on his face. Two years ago, he'd mentioned to his wife that the Society of American Baseball Research, the organization that Zajc works for as executive director, was bringing its convention to the city. She wondered if their marriage could survive the grind. "No, no," he assured her. "It won't be any more work than I'm already doing." Zajc can laugh about that conversation today. As he sits in a cafe seven floors below the SABR headquarters on Huron Road, he can happily say his marriage remains intact. Any doubters can look at his left ring finger and see his wedding band still in place. And the SABR convention that has occupied his life? Well, the convention, which the Indians have played a role in supporting, can count the time to its opening ceremonies in hours, not days. For at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, SABR members from around the world will gather at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel in the heart of the city's downtown. Zajc had projected a total of 575 conventioneers. His projection, however, has missed the mark. The total has raced past 600, and Zajc isn't ruling out those whose registrations will arrive late or who will register at the convention site itself. Few of these baseball junkies, which SABR appeals to, have let the annual event sneak up on them, despite the unsettled nature of the U.S. economy or bloated gasoline prices. "They already budgeted for this expense," Zajc said. "So the marginal extra cost that they might not have budgeted hasn't been enough to make them cancel." And once the convention does open, Zajc and his team of volunteers have put together an event that will appeal to the broad interests of the 7,000-plus SABR members. "We have over 7,000 members, and I'll bet if you ask 7,000 members, you'll get 7,000 answers to what SABR does," Zajc said. People who have heard elevator talk about the organization might see it as an organization for "numbers guys." But to pigeonhole SABR that way is akin to calling every person who has ever played the game "Babe Ruth." SABR does have its place for numbers geeks, but it prides itself on having members who conduct significant research into the history of baseball. The organization boasts a membership list that includes attorneys, doctors, mathematicians, English professors, accountants, PhD students, former ballplayers, insurance salesmen and journalists. While the term "sabermetrician" blossomed from the mathematical aspect of what many members like Bill James, Rob Neyer and Matt Souder did, the term doesn't fit baseball authorities like Dave Smith (retrosheet), Dave Vincent (home runs) and Leslie Heaphy (Negro Leagues). SABR, essentially, is a community for baseball fans of all stripes. Their annual convention, No. 38 overall, reflects their diverse interests. Besides a Friday night visit to Progressive Field for the Indians-Reds game, conventioneers can sit in on research presentations such as: • "Not just a hit and a giggle: Women's baseball in Australia," by professor Anne Aronson of the Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. • "Smoke and water: Joe Wood in Cleveland," by professor Gerald Wood, dean of humanities at Carson-Newman College in Jeffersonville City, Tenn. • "Marvin Miller and free agency: The importance of 1969," by David Bohmer, director of the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. • "The 3,000 hit club: How they got there and who may join them," by assistant professor Gilbert Martinez of Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas • "What factors influence free agent salaries," by Vince Gennaro, a baseball consultant, CNBC commentator and instructor in the Graduate Sports Management Program at Columbia University But plenty of hard-core, numbers-driven statistical analysis will be on display at the convention as well, Zajc said. When looking at SABR, the media finds the numbers stories the easiest ones to tell. They usually feature the most newsworthy components, too. Zajc insisted that a perception of SABR and its yearly convention as merely a get-together for sabermetricians would be downright inaccurate. The convention, which ends on Sunday, is about baseball -- and about people's unvarnished love for the game and its rich history. "I know one member has said several times, 'It's the one week a year that I feel normal,'" Zajc said. "That always tickles me, and I totally understand it."
June 27, 200816 yr ^from a SABR blogger: After having one beer, and being forced to leave due to an early closing time, we walked down to the 4th Street area, which is supposedly the heart of the downtown scene in Cleveland. We found everything to be closed. No one was around. There wasn’t even a hot dog vendor on a street corner. Cleveland is the butt of a lot of jokes, and obviously there’s some seed of truth to the jokes. I was very surprised to see that there’s essentially nothing going on around University Square in downtown Cleveland around midnight on a Thursday summer night. I’ve never been to a large city that was deader than Cleveland at night. Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, San Francisco, Omaha, Denver, Phoenix, Orlando, Albuquerque… all cities I’ve been to that are much more lively than Cleveland. It’s only a couple nights, of course, but so far Cleveland isn’t impressing me much. Nice people, but the city is kind of… underwhelming. http://thepastime.net/2008/06/27/sabr-38-day-two-steroid-statistics-and-does-cleveland-really-rock/ Fire away emails to: [email protected] Please, no one start bashing the aforementioned cities here.
June 27, 200816 yr ^from a SABR blogger: After having one beer, and being forced to leave due to an early closing time, we walked down to the 4th Street area, which is supposedly the heart of the downtown scene in Cleveland. We found everything to be closed. No one was around. There wasn’t even a hot dog vendor on a street corner. Cleveland is the butt of a lot of jokes, and obviously there’s some seed of truth to the jokes. I was very surprised to see that there’s essentially nothing going on around University Square in downtown Cleveland around midnight on a Thursday summer night. I’ve never been to a large city that was deader than Cleveland at night. Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, San Francisco, Omaha, Denver, Phoenix, Orlando, Albuquerque… all cities I’ve been to that are much more lively than Cleveland. It’s only a couple nights, of course, but so far Cleveland isn’t impressing me much. Nice people, but the city is kind of… underwhelming. Yeah, "University Square" downtown really isn't quite...oh, wait :-)
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